(1 handed typing here. hope post will make sense as i try to condense things )

for years, i've had severe neck tic. i knew 1 day it would wreck havoc on my spine 1 day.

tried a lot of things including pressure.

either way. i think it has caught up w/ me...

besides neck pain, i now feel burning pain on my right hand that i think is nerve/spine related.

it is a burning pain. like it's on fire whenever i would jerk the neck (& only when i jerk the neck do i feel it and i am going through a major waxing of it as of late)

then there is the other constant pain where i have various tics with my hand that includes bending them the other way against my face or body or wall. and hitting/punching tics against objects...

as lara has suggested, i think is a x-over with complusive(OC) & tics combined
(hate the co-morbids,eh? )

as w/ the waxing. i have damaged my knuckles on my index and middle finger. cannot bend my index/middle nor extend them fully. Those pains are constant. 24/7 and has now gotten to the point of keeping me awake even if i take the sleeping pills.

i think i may have developed some arthritis w/ my banging/bending tics of my hand. and have been taking aspirin and back on my glucosamin/msm

hate to cry about it...not really a complainer..

the spine issue bugs me more actually...

i am going to see a doc next week about my spine as my wife and i suspect either spurs and/or pressed spine issues. or may have just ticced the spines heckit outta place...

i am not sure what my outlook is but will accept it as what is and find ways to deal w/ it although my must admit i have been defeating myself the past few days. but i'll come out of it. it is better than losing the ability to walk like when i was 14 yo. w/severe leg tics. (it lasted about a year)

(interestingly enough. besides my vocal and facial tics. most of my tics below the neck are on my right side...hmmmm...)

i guess i am asking to see if anyone has experienced something similar. i know there isn't much to do about it.

i feel it as a progressive issue. the neck tics are not going to stop. will i am not going to let it stop me.

i've been learning to type faster w/ 1 hand.

love to hear inputs.



ps may take me awhile to respond...

came back to add:

trying to describe my neck tic: it's a violent jerk to my right where my rt shoulder would hit my face and i can feel my spine pop

Moi, Sounds like you have a few dif. issues goin on all at once! Have you ever tried the TENS unit? I Love mine, as it sometimes can "change" the impulses to the brain to tik...Therefor it may give you a break. Not sure if there are any medical issues why you could NOT have one.
You also mentioned (glucosamin/msm) .....earlier you mentioned the itching & burning...Although it took several Months to build up (about 8) I was found to be allergic to it. It has Ground up oyser shells or other marine life which I was sensitive to. But it took a long time to find out that this was the cause. Then one day the "lite" went on.lol

That's why I had asked about allergies to seafood? As I also mentioned most of my tiks are mild. The TENS unit helps me a LOT. I know it will not fix anything but a good break now & then helps! Good luck my dear & keep a positive outlook. You Will find a way!

For minor pain, swelling and arthritis in the hand/fingers I really recommend you try Salonpas OTC patches.

The older version is less expensive, and has methyl salicylate in them and will take down pain very quickly. I've used them for years on my hands/feet, ankles, knees, and back.

http://www.salonpas.us/salonpas.php

They often work where other oral choices do less or nothing.

(You will not need the aspirin orally, when you use these).
These have a form of aspirin in them and work locally, and therefore affect bleeding less and have less side effects.

I use them so often, I buy in bulk at Costco!

There are several types, so make sure you get the ones with 6% methyl salicylate in them. They can be cut into strips and wrapped around fingers/toes. Once you open the envelope I find keeping them in a ziploc type baggie is best for storage.

They do smell like life savers, but that is a small price to pay for the relief they provide! (about $4.00 for a box of 40)

(((((((Moi))))))))))

my son used to really have a hard time with neck tics

had to see a chiro weekly as he would put his atlas vertebra out all the time

it has been hardly there since he has followed the careful diet plus taking the extra magnesium supplements

he used to find soaking a washcloth in epsom salts solution and then leaving that to rest on back of his neck helpful

also acupuncture

the salonpas mrsD mentioned are so good to relieve pain

but it sounds to me like the tics have put your vertebra out and causing the peripheral pain...at least that is what used to happen to my son

I think you need to go to the doctor sooner, personally.

I know how severe your ticcing can be and I had hoped you'd gone the day before yesterday.

There are quite a number of reported cases of cervical myelopathy caused by severe motor tics in the literature.

For your hand, try anything you can possibly do to help redirect that complex movement. Have you tried that soft stress ball thing I suggested? Tie it to the palm of your hand with a bandage even. Some people might find that restricting movement will make them tic more. If so, then don't continue, but other people find that it does help.

You've had these neck tics forever. You used to wear a neck brace from time to time. Have you tried that lately?


PubMed
Mov Disord. 1996 Sep;11(5):563-6.
Severe motor tics causing cervical myelopathy in Tourette's syndrome.
Krauss JK, Jankovic J.


PubMed
Childs Nerv Syst. 2002 Apr;18(3-4):191-4. Epub 2002 Mar 9.

Myelopathy caused by tics in an adolescent, associated with T2 signal intensity changes of the spinal cord.

Muroi A, Matsumura A, Asakawa H, Enomoto T, Iwasaki N, Nose T.
I have more somewhere else too from years back, but that'll just give you an idea perhaps and get you to a doctor faster.


EDITED LATER (after wakeup coffee) to ADD:

Note the term "rarely"... I didn't want to frighten you too much, Moi. (Well, maybe just a little lol)

Scholar

Try those epsom salt baths too, Moi.
I wouldn't try anything like chiropractic until you find out what's going on.
My son had some relief with osteopathy though. Didn't involve manipulations.

Hopefully the waxing stage will be over soon. In the meantime you need to try to lower your stress levels and get some healthy food and supplements into you to help destress. Easier said than done, I know.

You're in good hands dear moi with Lara, Mrs.D and always Moss.

I've been using those Salonpas patches on my back since Mrs.D
told me about them and they help me tremendously.

But, I most definitely think you should not wait to see the dr.

gentle hugs.

and Chemar

OMG..smacks head! but of course! Chemar... thanks Lara.

hey hazel(garden girl), i'm not familiar w/ a tens unit. will ask doc about it. tanx!
re: gluco/msm. i've used for a few years now. no problem. not allergic to shell fish.
itching is neuropathy based. i think- as well as moss. because it only comes after the burning sensation(after the neck tics) and it isn't something that is an reaction. have kept close observation.

sorry to hear about your tics but glad the tens unit helps!

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mrsd! i love salonpas. gosh, i need to tell you about it. my grandma's(maternal)
2 major remedies when i was a child was salonpas and tiger balm. two of her brothers and cousin went to japan to become doctors (during the japanese occupation of china and one of them ended up working at the pharm the developed salonpas. so it was common in my household when i was growing up. and i love the smell of them. reminds me of my childhood and grandma.

just recently found it in the states in wal-mart a couple of years back and have been actually using it on my neck and else where (you should see my salonpas days where moss would laugh cause i have it almost everywhere i ache and would ask her to place them on my back. i literally would use about 15 patches at one time on some days.

but never on my knuckles...didn't think of that. then i read your response and tried it. the patch would fall off. so i cut off a glove and now have it over the salonpas. it is helping some! thanx for recommending it for my knuckles!

will look out for the ones with 6% methyl salicylate in them. i like drugstore.com so maybe they'll have something there.

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hey cheri, i have a wonderful chiro but it's been awhile since i'd seen him. he's into functional medicine also.

i think after my visit w/ the doctor. whom i suspect will then direct me to see a spine specialist, then get x-rayed, then...blah blah blah...then, i think i'll pay a visit to my chiro just to adjust my back. i have been developing a lower back tic as of late lol

if i put my verte bra on, do you think the doc would think i am sexy? lol j/k

glad it all worked out for your son. always so happy to hear about success stories.

wanted to make a note for new parents and tsers so i don't scare them for while the ts itself isn't hurtful. the repetition of the tics can really be annoying and hurtful. but that's only in extreme cases.
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lara, funny thing you said about scaring me a little...

i am usually not scared and i think i was actually a bit scared when i posted this...guess there is a part of me that is in fear that i would lose the use of my hand...

and it's funny just recently, i have been going through a renaissance of sorts.

been writing, drawing, and secretly practicing piano again recently and finding myself a bit more...and then, this started to happen. guess i had another "george" moment where i felt like, oh, what now? just when i got my butt in gear to do something, something else is happening again.

but know that it's a wonderful life and that i have nothing to complain about...

wonderful wife, donna reed, i mean, moss (gosh, she really is a lot like donna reed! lol)

have great wonderful friends. you all....my gosh, you all have given me so much...and these responses have warm my heart so...

i really am lucky and these are good reminders of that...

moi taking off the blinders...

(it's a good thing that i learned to reaquaint and draw w/ my left hand few years ago. and actually, i'm naturally left handed and i discovered that i can write backwards easily. neato, eh? lololol)

the stress ball didn't help because i would end up punching myself with a whole fist vs soft landings.lol.

let me see if i can described the tics of the right hand. at times, it is a simple rubbing the face with the fingers. those are my favorites. lol

then, there are the jabbing ones where either index finger or middle finger pokes me right on my mandible. then either my mandibles hurt or my fingers get jammed. and sometime they are directed at anything that is to the right of me. so sometimes moss gets jabbed. lol but the worst times is when i'd jab a wall or a cabinet or something hard...that's when it really hurts. I really feel for the walls and the objects that were hurt by my jabbing and i had to apologize..ya know? lol

the worse ones are the punches. i punch right ON the knucles. index and middle knucles to be exact...usually in the air but when it's on the face and an object, that's when I start feeling guilty for abusing the objects.

w/ that said, i have been thinking that the origination of these doesn't start from my hand but my neck. have a feeling that it is related to my neck jerks. am wondering if i have that under control that it would help alleviate the hand symptoms.

the neck collar, funny you should mention that. i was looking on line w/ moss the other day to see if we can find a more solid one to help.
the ones i used to wear would work for a few days, but then my sweat and the amount of force of tic would wear it out so quickly that they just didn't work anymore. those foam ones were too expensive to replace every few days...so kinda have gave up on those and just relying on yoga and tai-chi. which does seem to help.

but am going to invest in a more expensive neck brace with rigid plastic along with chin support...what do ya think?

hey, do you remember when you and birdude asked me to get bo-tox done? I was hoarse for years and barely understandable? LOL and also developed that stiff neck to the right? and don't want to talk about what they found when they went to inject it. but glad they did and now am 100% johnny carson free.

anyways, monkey suggested bo-tox and I actually have been thinking about it. and hopefully they don't find any -oma this time. lol
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...and alpho and hazel and thanks to the pms and emails, dear folks...

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thank you all for all your advices and inputs. i hope others out there that has similar to what i have will see the awesome advices and inputs that you dear folks gave.

my own question/concern now is how much my spine has been damaged. i think that's the part that scares me. maybe why i haven't been to the doctor. but i will make an appt tomorrow. i promise.

it's funny how i really haven't been thinking about TS these past years. think i have "moved on" from it. and now, i am actually reading up on it again...weird, eh?

my biggest concern is that i might not be able to perform the finger/hand puppet shows anymore for the kids. lololol

might have to do a leftliloquy...

thanks a bunch, folks. this reply took me almost 30 minutes. urrrg...frustrating when i can't type fast.

i type almost as fast as i think and typing like this makes me lose my thoughts as soon as i finish a sentence, i forget what the next is. lol. guess add contributes to that also...

((((((big hugs)))))) and thanks, everyone...i'm going to be fine or deal w/ it one way or another...won't let it defeat me. heckit, i might become the $6.00 man (6 million dollar man might be pushing it, $6.00. definitely. lol)

(Just sneaking in to thank you all...your wonderful caring and advice is helping...sneaking back out)